Wagyu Beef Cooking Tips

by Charles DukeAugust 09, 2016

Wagyu is the breed of cattle and can be raised anywhere in the world. Like Bordeaux or Champagne, Kobe is a place, a city in Japan. Kobe beef is beef from Wagyu cattle that were born, raised, and slaughtered with specific practices in the Hyogo Prefecture—the capital of which is Kobe—and meet very strict guidelines. Kobe beef is from cattle that have never been crossbred, maintaining pure Wagyu cattle genetics.

100% Fullblood Wagyu isn’t only the most amazing beef you’ll ever eat, it’s the healthiest. Like the fat in salmon, the marbling in Wagyu beef offers the Omega-3 and Omega-6 essential fatty acids our bodies need. The monounsaturated fat to saturated fat ratio is higher than in any other beef, deemed by nutritionists to be beneficial in decreasing LDL cholesterol while increasing HDL cholesterol, making Wagyu beef a nutrient-dense protein that tastes like an indulgence.

Lone Mountain Waygu is pretty special stuff. But when it comes to cooking wagyu at home, you need to take extra special care not to spoil it and ruin an expensive piece of meat.

The trick is in the timing. Wagyu is heavily marbled with monounsaturated fat, which melts at a much lower temperature than normal steak fat. That means wagyu tends to cook around 30 percent quicker than regular beef. Cook your steak for too long and you’ll melt all the fat, leaving you with something chewy, dry and uninspiring. A waste of your hard earned money.

Since wagyu is so expensive, you might choose to cook it the Japanese way - in small thin slices, either on a hot yaki-niku grill over a direct flame, or by the shabu-shabu method in boiling oily stock. It will only need a few seconds to cook.

But if you prefer your steak traditional, thick and medium rare, a pre-heated cast iron skillet is what you’ll need. Wagyu doesn’t need much in the way of seasoning - perhaps a small sprinkle of sea salt, ground black pepper and a smattering of olive oil. Sear the steak for around one or two minutes (depending on thickness) on both sides before placing it in the oven for around 8 minutes.

Sounds easy, doesn’t it? But if you’re petrified of seeing your wagyu beef investment going up in flames, you could always choose not to cook it at all. Japanese style wagyu steak tartare is every bit as good as seared steak. Just mince the meat and mix with a raw egg yolk, some sea salt and pepper, finely chopped spring onions and a dash of soy sauce. "Oishi" as they say in Japan.

From: MEAT TIPS: HOW TO COOK WAGYU BEEF

You can also use a very hot grill. But remembering that the meat is like a baked alaska will help. The outside needs high heat - briefly - but do not let the creamy inside overheat and lose the key delicious element of the Wagyu. Think about quick-sear cooking techniques used for things like rare tuna and foie gras. Open flames, intensely preheated cast iron and Wagyu beef are friends. However you cannot allow the steak to remain in contact with the heat long enough to melt all the fat and cause it to drip out of the internal structures of the meat. Wagyu is a treasure you will crave, but don't cook it like you would other beef.